Dan Martin was delighted to win the Giro Il Lombardia in Bergamo, Italy.
Martin crashed in the race last season and also crashed on the last bend of the Liège-Bastogne-Liège race when in front and in May, he crashed on the opening team time trial of the Giro d'Italia in Belfast and was unable to continue in the race.
“I crashed on the last corner last year and that was the start of my bad luck. I think this is full circle and to win Il Lombardia is just incredible,” Martin said to www.cyclingnews.com after his win on Sunday afternoon,
“I only knew I'd won when I got through the last corner without crashing. Getting through it was my big objective.
“I've had a lot of good luck in my career and so I knew I'd have one year of bad luck but I always try to stay positive and so does the team. We always believed we'd win. After a difficult season it's actually easier to be motivated, focused and train for these races. I didn't want to end the season without a win.
“I was actually thinking of attacking on the climb but I didn't have the opportunity
“I saw that [Philippe] Gilbert, [Alejandro] Valverde, [Michael] Albasini and [Rui] Costa were there and they're all very fast, so I needed to go before the sprint. I moved up to be on Gilbert's wheel, got speed, saw a gap and went. I didn't think about it, it just happened. It was inspiration.
“Then it was a case of not crashing on the last corner. I was quite nervous because I've got a track record ... but it all worked out.
“Lombardia and Liège-Bastogne-Liège are my two favourite races of the year. I just love these long races and getting eighth in 2009 was when I first realised I could perhaps win it.
“Lombardia is a beautiful, beautiful race. It's the climber's Classic and it's one of the first cycling memories I have, starting when Bettini won it. I understand the history of the race. I love cycling and this is one of the biggest races of the year. To have my name on the race palmares is incredible.
“I love racing and actually enjoy one-day races the most. I just love racing. I've proved in the Vuelta that I do the general classification but winning a Grand Tour is perhaps a few years away. There's something special about starting fresh and finishing empty. One-day Classics are more tactical, you have to take risks. I'm less conservative (as a rider) and love that kind of racing.”
“In my career, I wanted to win three races: Lombardia, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Flèche Wallonne. Now there's only one left and I was close to Flèche this year. I'm only 28 and I've already won two Monuments. But I'm going to continue racing how I do and enjoy my racing.”